Rockets quick start fueled by passion and hard work
By Zachary Dzurick
Sports
Published Date, 2005

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Bay boys head basketball coach Scott Sharp wasn’t quite sure what he had this season. He lost his two leading scorers to graduation including center Derek Riedel who also averaged eight rebounds a game. However, Sharp knew his eight returning seniors would bring a lot of heart and effort. But would that translate into wins?

So far, it has. Bay is 6-0 including four wins over SWC teams North Olmsted, Avon Lake, Westlake and one of the teams that replaced them in the conference, Berea.

“I am little bit surprised with our play. I guess with not knowing what was going to happen this year and not knowing what kind of contributions we would get from everybody,” Sharp said. “We lost our two leading scorers from last season and I wondered where the scoring would come from but the kids worked so hard in the off-season. Each player has taken it upon himself to step up. But I knew the type of positive and hard working attitudes we had coming back. I knew if we could take that and blend in some new things, we could be successful.”

Bay coach Scott Sharp’s team is off to a 6-0 start. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

The key for Sharp has been the complete unselfishness of the team. Senior Trevor Wenzell, averaging 18.8 points per game,  continued his hot shooting from last season by scoring 29 to start the season against North Olmsted. When other teams focus on Wenzell, however, his teammates have stepped up.

“Coaches think if they can stop Trevor no one else can score,” Sharp said. “I think we have shown game by game someone else has stepped up whether it has been our other captain B.J. Baran, Dan Geuther, Evan Helgesen, Jeff Doyle or Brian Vick. Everybody has taken their turn. That is one of the keys we have, we are very unselfish and no one cares who scores as long as we focus on getting the win. The key has been if Trevor is open, they are going to give him the ball. They don’t care whether he scores 10 points, 20 points or 30 points; they will do what they have to do to win. And when Trevor is covered, he sets screens for other people and trys to get other people open. Rebounds have been a total team effort. We don’t have Derek pulling down eight boards a game but we do have several people pulling down five or six a game. We are getting teams to turn over the ball 20 times a game with our defense. It has been that total team effort and real unselfish attitude that has allowed us to be successful.”

Bay seemed to snake-bit last season when they lost several very close games. This season, however, the Rockets have owned the fourth quarter.

“We played and lost a lot of close game last year,” Sharp said. “That experience has taught them how to play the fourth quarter. We haven’t lost a lead in the fourth quarter this year. Last year, we shot about 60 percent. Right now we are shooting 70 percent. The kids have confidence in the fourth quarter now that we can protect a lead from the foul line.”

Co-captains Wenzell and Baran believed the team could be successful.

“At the beginning of the season, we knew we had a lot of seniors coming back and we expected to be one of the tops teams in the conference,” Baran said. “But starting with those four SWC teams, it was a bit surprising to beat all four of them.

“We returned eight seniors and I thought we would be good but I didn’t know we would be this good early,” Wenzell said. “Those wins built up our confidence and we have some momentum now.”

Both agree that the fourth quarter comeback against Berea was a game that last year they may have lost. It really helped the team’s confidence.

“It is a mental game when it comes down the fourth quarter,” Wenzell said. “In the Berea game we stepped up on defense and forced turnovers. We made our open shots when it counted.”

Many outsiders wondered if the Rockets could be successful after Riedel’s graduation. Wenzell loves the attention he gets from other teams because it allows his teammates to be successful.

“I like it because when they double team me, it gets my teammates open who can knock down open shots,” Wenzell said.

Baran said several players have stepped up.

“Derek was a big loss because he was an inside presence but Brian Vick has really stepped up,” Baran said. “He worked hard over the summer to be able to contribute a lot. Danny Geuther is always hitting open shots and combined with Vick inside now gives us an good inside/outside game.”

Sharp believes the attention the team is getting early is fun, but won’t affect the team’s chemistry and work ethic. He knows his team will have its hands full as the inaugural WSC season heats up.

“People like to say the WSC is not that strong of a conference, but I think if you look team by team I think this year the WSC is just as strong as the SWC,” Sharp said. “I think the attention that comes with being ranked is a fun thing for the kids. We know teams want to come in and beat. It can make a season to stop a team from being unbeaten but the kids are loose and they aren’t feeling any pressure.”

Wenzell agrees and believes Sharp is the perfect man to led the Rockets.

“Coach Sharp is quiet but he gets us pumped up,” Wenzell said. “We just have to work harder now in practice and stay with the fundamentals.”